001
by blackbeaut
Summary: 001 was the first experiment Dr Benner captured. All she remembers is pain. One night, 001 manages to escape Hawkins Lab and has been on the run ever since. But somehow she ends up coming back to the town she once left behind. (Set in Season 2)
1. Chapter One - Free

This is the story of 001.

She was the first experiment Dr Benner captured. All 001 remembers is pain. Trapped in the Hawkins Lab, 001 was brutally experimented on, alongside many other children. One night, 001 manages to escape Hawkins Lab and has been on the run ever since. But somehow she ends up coming back to the town she once left behind. (Set in Season 2)

* * *

001.

The first of many experiments that Dr Martin Benner had planned after his Project MK-ULTRA was shut down. He became known of 001 when a middle-aged woman brought a toddler into his building, claiming that it had unique abilities.

_"What am I seeing here Whitney?" Martin looked at the dark-skinned woman before him, holding a child in front of him. He was slightly annoyed that he had been dragged away from his important work but it intrigued him to hear back from one of his test subjects._

_"Please...just wait a moment." The mother said before turning to her daughter who gave her a big toothy grin. "Honey...can you show me and this man here that trick you did before at home?" She glanced behind her, seeing Martin looking unimpressed. "You know, where you moved things like this, poof!" Whitney demonstrated in front of her daughter by grabbing a pen and moving it, so she could understand. But it didn't work as her daughter grabbed the pen and started biting it with her developing teeth, letting out an infectious giggle._

_"What are you doing Whitney?" Whitney could hear him losing his patience and she understood if he'd give her more time._

_"If you just wai-she did it before! I swea-" Whitney tried to say but Martin interrupted her._

_"You're wasting my time here," He moved towards the door, but Whitney grasped onto the handle first and tried to plead with him. But Martin shoved her making her let go of the handle and stumble back a little. He opened the door and yelled "Security!"_

_Whitney started to panic as this wasn't supposed to happen. She looked at her daughter and noticed her child's smile started to drop. She just needed his help._

_Whitney didn't notice the two men that came into the room and one of them grabbed her shoulder._

_"Wait hey, get off me," Whitney yelled as the two security men grabbed her arms roughly. Martin stayed against the wall and watched the scene take place. But he noticed how her daughter's smile went away and stared at the two men who were taking her mother. "Ow, you're hurting me!"_

_Another security man came into the room and reached his arms towards the toddler, but was suddenly flung across the room. Everyone froze and looked at the unconscious man laying on the floor._

_"What the fu-" One of the men muttered before being flung across the room at the same time as the other man, both going unconscious._

_Martin and Whitney both looked at each other before they stared at her daughter and noticed a stream of blood coming out of her nose._

_"Is this what you wanted to show me?"_

_"Martin..." Whitney murmured as she stared in awe what she did. "She's never done...a-anything like this before. Just small things, that's all." She said as she watched Martin walk towards her daughter carefully until he was at her eye level._

_"Well..." He kneeled down in front of her. "I guess that just makes you very special. " Giving her a reassuring smile before he turned and looked at Whitney, smirking._

* * *

"One, I want you to the same thing as you did last time, understand?"

Martin was staring a young black girl with a shaved head sat at the metal table in a small observation room. But One was fixated on the mirror in front of her as she tilted her head to the side as if she was examining herself. Or those four men standing behind it, observing her actions.

One looked up at the man who she now calls 'Papa'. One was unsure why he wanted her to hurt the animal before. It hadn't done anything to her so why?

"Why?" The girl asked, staring at her reflection in the mirror.

Martin's eyes furrowed at the child before him, as she was getting older, her defiance was starting to kick in. It made it harder for him to converse her to do certain tasks for him.

"One, do as I say." He said firmly.

One gave him another look before turning to the hamster, trapped in a cage, wanting to be free. _Free..._

"No." She answered staring at him defiantly.

Martin turned to the mirror before looking back at her, sighing. "I don't like it when you don't listen to me One." He watched as two men grabbed her arms harshly and dragged her out of the room.

001 didn't even fight, she remembered when she fought once and a man came and injected something into her neck that made her tired and suddenly passed out. The same routine every day since she can remember. Testing her to see if she was capable of more to what they already know.

They didn't care about how she would scream for them to stop. How she did not want to do the test. The hunger she felt after being starved for the previous days for not being compliant.

001 had enough.

Suddenly, both the men went flying against the wall, immediately being knocked out due to the force.

The noise was heard by Martin who quickly came out of the room and looked at the scene before him. It reminded him of the day he first met her.

She slowly turned around and glared at the man before her. He knew that something had snapped in her and he had to act fast.

"One-" Martin didn't have the chance to speak as a door came flying towards him and collided with him. One quickly ran over him and turned the corner and kept on running. She knew she had to make it to the top and nothing was going to stop her.

One didn't listen to the screams of pains that came from the people that had abused her for all her years. She was so close. But then, alarms blared and the lights flickered over the hall but she doesn't hear any rapid footsteps coming towards her. _Strange..._

One was curious but she spotted the elevator at the end of the corridor. Quickly she ran over to it but noticed somebody was in the elevator, she pressed the button and prepared herself for a fight. But it wasn't what she expected.

A mangled body of a scientist was laying in front of her.

One felt her body become uneasy and nauseous from the sight before her. But she knew she was being watched and took another path to escape. She made her way up the next floor and peeked through the door to see if there was anybody nearby, but saw no one. So, very carefully, One treaded through the hallways, finding an exit. She found the front door but five muscular men stood by it. One felt very drained at this point but she needed to keep moving forward.

She took a deep breath and came into the view of the guards. Before the guards could react, she snapped her neck to the side and all the guards fell to the ground, instantly dead.

Wiping the blood off her nose, 001 carried on forward making her way to the exit. She came to the door and opened it quietly, before stepping into the cold night and breathing in the fresh air. A smile graced her face as she stared into the night.

"Free..." Those were the last words that came out of her mouth before taking off into the forest. Not once did she look back.

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let me know your thoughts

-mr


	2. Chapter Two - Mind to Mind

**Hello everyone, I'm sorry for posting it late, I really want to finish this story. This is set in season 2 and will follow it!**

**Review and I hope you enjoy!**

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**THREE YEARS LATER**

_You don't love me?_

_It's bullshit._

It's bullshit. Steve Harrington was driving home in his car, as those two words repeated in his mind. She didn't love him, he didn't understand why she would say that to him. They had been through so much.

She didn't mean it...no.

But in reality, he knew that she did.

Steve shut his eyes for a moment as he heard the music that he and Nancy would listen to for every drive they took together.

He did know it. And that was what hurt most of all.

He swiped a hand down his face, ignoring the burning in his eyes. Steve clenched his jaw, starting his steering wheel with a force he couldn't seem to shake. God, why did the things he worked the hardest for never seem to result in his favour?

As soon as Steve opened his eyes, he realised his high beams wasn't on to see the long road. He flicked on the car lights on and the light revealed a dark shape that stumbles into the middle of the road. He had no time to react but it seemed that the car had a mind of its own. It released a piercing sound from the tyres and coming to a halt in front of the dark shape.

Steve let his eyes fix onto the shape, which the light revealed a caramel-skinned girl who had one shaky hand raised before it was lowered down to her side. He got out of the car, coming around to the front of the car and looking between the girl and his car.

"Wha-how-I don't understand," Steve said as he was trying to process what just happened. His car was about to pummel this girl in front of him but she stopped it? "Shit, are you ok?" He asked, looking her up and down as he noticed she was still staring at his car.

"G-go"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Go." The girl said one more time before she slowly started to walk down the long road. But Steve found himself, catching up with her but before he could grab her, she collapsed to the ground.

"Hey" Steve quickly turned her over onto her back and checked her over. "Stay with me ok, I'm gonna get you to a hospit-"

"No...hospital" She murmured to him, her green eyes trying to focus on his face. "Please." That was the last words that came out of her mouth before her eyes fell shut.

"Hey...hey," He shook her shoulders but there was no response from her. "Shit..." He muttered to himself.

He grabbed her wrist, checking for a pulse and it was there but it was weak. From what he gathered from her baggy clothes and battered shoes was that she was homeless. Maybe a kid who ran away from home.

Something black caught his eye as he held her wrist in his hands, **001**.

Steve quickly opened the passenger car door open before he swiftly carried her and placed her in the passenger seat. He strapped a seat belt in so she was secure before he situated himself in the driver's seat.

"Great." With that, he turned the engine on before he put the car in drive to carry on its journey to his home.

* * *

Steve stared at the girl laid in front of him on the couch in the living room. He got home about an hour ago and the girl still hadn't woken up. Luckily his parents weren't home so it made it easier for him to carry her into his home.

He had many questions for this girl. His mind flashed back to where his car almost pummeled the girl but it stopped just before it hit her. Did she do it? No, that can't be.

A groan tore him away from his thoughts as he saw the girl was starting to wake up. He saw her begin to stir from her slumber as her eyes squeezed shut before she began to slowly open her eyes. Everything was a blur in her visions as Steve watched her intently.

"Ngh…" The girl's eyes finally opened and looked deep into Steve's eyes. Steve found himself in awe at how unique her eyes were. An emerald green. Steve began to think of how pretty her eyes were. Upon fully opening her eyes, she scanned the room, though it appeared she still had sleep in her. "W-where...am I?"

"Hey…" Steve said, lowly not wanting to scare her. He saw her eyes quickly look around to see her new surroundings. "It's ok…you're in my house."

"What?" The girl asked, finally looking at him.

"Are you ok? What were you doing out there?" He asked as he looked her over once more. The girl just looked down to avoid his eye contact.

"Shit, you probably want a drink. Gimme one sec." The girl sat up slightly as watched him quickly walk into another room, waiting patiently for him to come back.

Steve came with a glass of water for her to drink and he held out the glass for her but she looked between him and glass.

"Here, it's for you...drink." He brought the glass closer in which she grabbed with both hands and brought it to her lips and let the liquid run down her throat. In seconds it was gone and Steve could see she wanted more.

"T-thank...you" She slightly struggled to say, furrowing her eyebrows as if she was mad with herself. Steve let a smile grace his face which she saw and slowly returned. He shook his head as he remembered the situation that he was in.

"Look, I have questions for you which I'm sure you know I do," Steve said to her, standing up and watched her nod at him in agreement. "Ok, well-"

"Food."

"What, you want...food?" He asked her and he heard her stomach make a loud noise, making her hold her stomach.

"Y-es...please." She answered looking up at him, directly into his eyes. Steve let out a sigh as he stared her, from what he could make out of her underneath her tatty jumper, she was thin.

"Come on, let's get you something to eat."

* * *

Steve watched her with the sandwich he made a few minutes ago, slowly bring it to her mouth. Her green eyes flickered between him and the sandwich before taking a hesitant bite. But that is all it took as he watched her eat the sandwich hungrily and felt the urge to make another but he needed to find out more about her.

She was halfway done eating when he spoke up. "What's your name?" He asked her as it felt weird not knowing it. "My name's Steve."

"One." She answered as she took another bite of this delicious sandwich.

"One?" He asked as he wasn't too sure if she was telling the truth. "Wait...that's your name?"

"Yes, that is my name." Steve gave her an 'I-don't-believe-you' look. "I don't lie." As she pulled down the sleeve of her jumper to show her wrist to him. Steve leaned forward to see the tattoo he saw before earlier.

"Where did you get this from?" Steve asked his eyes flickering between the tattoo and One looked away from his gaze.

"My...father." One pulled her sleeve back to its original place and shifted in her seat.

"What...why?" Steve watched her shrug her shoulders. "Are you running away from him?"

"No." He was gone forever. She made sure of that.

"Then who?" One looked at him carefully and bit her lip. Steve noticed this, it was as if she was reading him before answering his question.

"Bad people...who want to hurt me."

"Why?" He asked her. She looked down at her plate for a moment before looking at him.

"Because of what I can do."

Steve's eyebrows furrowed at what she said and slowly leaned back into his seat. "And what is it that you can do…?" He asked, carefully.

Steve couldn't finish his sentence but only stare in awe as he watched the sandwich before One lift off her plate and move towards him. He raised his hand and grabbed the sandwich and looked it over, before looking at One.

"I have power, Steve. People want me," One said in a calm voice as she watched him place the sandwich back onto her plate. "And people want to kill me." Just one look at Steve and you could see he was trying to process what just happened.

Steve looked down at the table, trying to process his thoughts. _Would she hurt me?_

"I won't hurt you." Steve quickly looked at her with his eyebrows raised.

"Wait, how did y-" One raised her brow at him and her finger to her temple, which make him run a hand down his face. "Wait, you can read minds?" She nodded in response. "Ok, you need to stop that." One paused but nodded and continued eating the rest of her sandwich. He watched her for a moment before he stood up to pace in front of her.

One listened to him mutter to himself as he was trying to figure out what to do. She could see he was evaluating her, trying to understand what he just saw. It made her wonder, why did he take her to his home?

'Steve…?" Steve turned to her as he saw her finish the sandwich he made her.

"Yes."

"Why did you bring me here?" One asked and Steve could see that she wanted to know why he brought her to his home.

"Well I-I-" he began, stumbling upon his words slightly. He was unsure of what to tell her, without scaring her off, "-b-because I could tell you were in trouble and you are. You're scared and I-' One looked at him, her eyes narrowing slightly as she waited for him to continue. Steve ran a hand down his face "I just wanted to help you, ok? Is that wrong?"

"No..it's not." She answered, her eyes meeting his for a moment. She let a smile grace her face which Steve returned before moving towards her. He knew it was getting late and he was starting to feel tired.

"Look," he started. "I can see you don't have a home, so you why don't we get some sleep because you look like you need it and we'll carry this on in the morning?" One's eyebrows furred at him.

"I stay here?" Steve nodded in response.

"You can stay in the living room, my parents are away for the week." One only understood some parts of what he said but nodded anyway.

"Ok."

* * *

One only watched Steve make a makeshift bed for her in his living room. She wore a different outfit to sleep in which she was very grateful for. She held the blanket close to her, that he gave her already thinking about sleeping.

"Okay, that should do it," He turned to her, "You can lay here and be warm," He ran a hand through his hair. "That blanket will keep you warm too, oh, here are some clothes too."

One looked at the clothes he held out for her, a pair of blue jeans and a large stripy jumper which he placed on the couch for her.

"You can change into these in the morning so you don't have to wear those anymore." He stared at her scraggly clothes. "Some of this is my cousin who left some of her things here, so it doesn't matter, they're yours now."

"Yes." One looked at herself and nodded in agreement. Steve made a move to leave but he halted in step as he really wanted to know more about her.

"One,' One looked at him. " What did those, uh, bad people do to you?" One turned her head away and shut her eyes. "I know I shouldn't ask but did they kidnap you or something? Try to make your into something…bad?"

One attempting to remember the exact time in her life when she was taken but she couldn't. It was all hazy as she tried to remember anything when she was small. She knew it was hard to explain but she knew there was another way he can know about her life.

"I can't tell..you" Steve nodded, turning to walk away. But One's voice made him stop and faced her again.

"But…I... c-can show you." Steve's eyes narrowed at her as she sat down, crossed-legged on the floor next to her make-shift bed. One ushered him to sit down in front of her, which he did warily.

"What are you going to do?" Steve asked as he sat the same way as her. He watched as One spread out her fingers in front of him and slowly intertwined them together.

"My mind…to your mind," Looking her hands before looking at him, seeing if he understand and he did…sort of.

"But how-" One brought a finger to her temple and he remembered her powers that she holds. Steve rolled his shoulders, preparing himself...physically and mentally.

"This isn't going to mess up my mind." The girl cocked her side slightly, making him roll his eyes at her. "You know, my brain." He pointed two fingers to the side of his head and span them in a circle.

"No." One answered and Steve let out a small sigh. He felt relieved about that, but he slightly froze when he saw her move closer to him and place her hands on his shoulders. He could almost feel her breath fanned his face.

"One?" But she shushed him, making him not say another word. Her voice was quiet and hush-like.

"...Close eyes and..." One began a breathing pattern for him, which he assumed to follow. He slowly started to mimic her before he felt himself zone out and began to hear the clock ticking. That's when he heard One began to count.

"10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2." Steve didn't hear one as he felt his mind being tugged into a strange void. He felt himself being drifted somewhere as if he was leaving his body, leaving everything behind. He saw One's face staring at him before it went dark.

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**Let me know your thoughts!**

**-R**


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